I am obsessed with Gumbo. Not the meat. The okra, the cajun roux, and just the plain deliciousness of when it is done properly, always puts a smile on my face and in my belly. With the few remaining okra I had left from my gorgeous plant I wanted to give it a go – my first time ever – at making vegetarian gumbo.
In case you do not recall the photos of my burgundy okra, allow me to refresh your memory:
As I searched the internet I found so many vegetarian gumbo recipes…How to choose?!? I found THIS ONE from Isa Chandra Moskowitz at the Post Punk Kitchen and fell in love. It seemed to be well suited for my skill range…The other one I was looking into seemed a little too intense for me at this point in my career (from 101 Cookbooks), but definitely something I will try next season with my next okra plant.
A quick note on the size of the okra. I have learned that Okra should not be over 2″ long. When it is, it becomes so tough that it’s inedible. I lost quite a few of my okra because of this. When the hot weather hit they loved it, and grew before I even had a chance to harvest 
So this is some of my okra that I wasn’t able to use:
The recipe I used called for some version of a sweet-hot creole peppers, which I did not have. So I used my bell peppers. So overall, this gumbo has a decent amount of produce coming from the garden: Okra, Cherry Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Onion, and Thyme. I’m good with that!
I began by making a roux, which I have never done. I almost went out and bought a gumbo/roux spoon… but John insisted it wasn’t necessary..He was probably right.
There are an endless number of ways to make a roux it seemed, but this one seemed pretty straightforward:
3 tbsp. Olive Oil and 1/4 cup Flour. Heat oil in large heavy bottomed pan, aka: Le Creuset Dutch Oven, sprinkle in the flour and use a wooden spoon to incorporate flour into oil, 3-4 minutes. 
Then add onions and salt, stirring consistently till onions are coated, about 5 minutes, then add garlic. I then added my peppers and tomatoes and put the lid on so that the cherry tomatoes would cook faster and release moisture. The mixture was becoming nice and thick and pasty just like Isa said it would! I then seasoned it with paprika, bay leaves, fresh thyme and pepper.
Now to add the vegetable broth – while stirring constantly to prevent clumping – followed by the okra and beans.
As far as the beans go, Whole Foods now sells organic beans in this packaging instead of BPA lined aluminum cans. LOVE IT! Just something to be aware of, and they are still about the same price as the cans.
Once I brought it to a boil, I let it simmer for about an hour, and added a little extra vegetable broth as it was pretty thick. I didn’t bother adding the rice, it seemed unnecessary.
I feel like this may be an appropriate time to start singing….“They’re ain’t no time to stash the gumbo….” Thank you, Phish, for making this song to go along with my gumbo craze 
I of course added a little hot sauce, as I always do to my gumbo
Thanks to PPK for the great recipe that I will be using and modifying over and over!
Source: citygardenlife.com (defunct blog)
